Adoption Update #3

New update from our agency today.....

Haiti Family Program Update

January 16, 2015

Dear Families,

Happy New Year!  We hope each of you had a wonderful holiday season.  We received good news right before Christmas that we are one of the agencies that IBESR renewed accreditation to continue working in Haiti.  We are one of 18 US agencies reaccredited along with other countries including 2 in Germany, 3 in Belgium, 5 in Canada, 2 in Spain, 10 in France, 1 in Holland, 1 in Ireland, 5 in Italy, and 2 in Switzerland.  To this point, IBESR has re-accredited 49 international agencies to assist families with adoptions of Haitian children.

We were also pleased to hear that in addition to the quota of 12 dossiers per year our agency may submit for regular adoptions (children under age 5), we may also submit 5 dossiers per month for those families open to sibling groups, children over age 6 and children with special needs. We are still waiting on the list of waiting children from Haiti and are hopeful we can place some of these children with families. 

We do want to take time to remember the Haitian people this month as they remember those lost in the Haitian earthquake 5 years ago (January 12, 2010).  There were times of remembrance this week throughout the country.   There has also been some political unrest in Port-au-Prince with demonstrations related to the disbanding of parliament due to a stalemate between lawmakers and the President of Haiti.  A new prime minister has taken office in Haiti by the name of Prime Minister Evans Paul.  He is organizing the government and has stated a new electoral council will be appointed within weeks and legislative elections will be held this year. 

Due to the political climate, information from IBESR related to status of adoptions and family cases has been limited, but Silvia and Daniel are hoping to have an update on status of adoptions and particular cases soon. 

As we receive information on your individual case, your program coordinator will contact you. 

We also want to remind you to keep an eye of your immigration approval and keep that current.  You may want to contact your immigration officer 6 months prior to your expiration date if you are an I600A case to determine if you can renew under the I600A process or will need to switch to an I800A application.  

Please contact your program coordinator if you have questions about your particular case and we will be happy to talk with you.

Your Haiti Program Coordinators,

Tania Griasnow

Angela Jackson